USPTO Director Jon Dudas and Commissioner for Patents John Doll meet with members of the George Washington University School of Business case competition team, along with GWU Professor James Thurman

GWU Business Case Competition Winners Meet with USPTO Management

Winners of the George Washington University (GWU) School of Business 2008 International Business Case Competition met recently with USPTO senior management to present their proposed solutions to the pressing issues of patent pendency and backlog at the USPTO.

The winners of the competition, a team representing GWU’s School of Business, were chosen through a “blind” judging process by a panel including USPTO leadership and executives representing such diverse industries as education, finance, hospitality and consulting.

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USPTO Embarks on Listening Tour on Design Protection of Automotive Parts
Deputy Director of USPTO Met with Auto Industry Executives in Michigan May 6

On Tuesday, May 6, Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Margaret J.A. Peterlin met with executives from the automotive industry to kick off a listening tour to seek the perspectives of parties concerned with issues related to protecting the designs of automobiles. 

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USPTO Seeks Members for Public Advisory Committees
Deadline for Nominations May 30

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is seeking nominations to the committees that review the agency’s policies, goals, performance, budget and user fees. Both the Patent Public Advisory Committee (PPAC) and the Trademark Advisory Committee (TPAC) have openings for three members. The members service three year terms. Persons wishing to submit nominations should send the nominee’s resume to Chief of Staff, Office of the Under Secretary and Director, USPTO, Post Office Box 1450, Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450 or by electronic mail to PPACnominations@uspto.gov for the patent committee or to TPACnominations@uspto.gov for the trademark committee. All nominations must be postmarked or electronically transmitted on or before May 30, 2008.

>> Click Here For further information and to read the Federal Register Notice

USPTO Introduces New Intellectual Property Curriculum
i-©®eaTM inspires creativity and teaches students about patents, trademarks, copyrights

The USPTO has announced the launch of a new, dynamic curriculum that inspires students to be creative and teaches them about the value of patents, trademarks, and copyrights, as well as the importance of respecting other’s intellectual property. The i-©®eaTM curriculum, developed by the USPTO in collaboration with i-SAFE—a leader in Internet safety education—is an interactive and age appropriate unit of instruction designed for upper-elementary, middle, and high school students.

“If you own something that is valuable, you want to protect it. Since U.S. intellectual property today is worth more than $5 trillion, it is important that future inventors understand the process of protecting intellectual property, and that we instill an innovative spirit among students to keep the flow of innovation alive,” said Jon Dudas, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO.

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Commerce Secretary Gutierrez Letter to Senate Calls for Patent Applicant Quality Submissions Provision in Patent Modernization Legislation

On April 3, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez sent a letter to members of the U.S. Senate to share the Administration’s thoughts on key aspects of the Patent Reform Act (S. 1145), including the Applicant Quality Submissions (AQS) provision, which he cites as “the strongest step toward improved patent quality.”

The Administration strongly supports the AQS provision in the bill in its current form, and believes enacting AQS will reduce the number of poor quality and imprecise applications, thus dramatically reducing patent pendency and backlog, as well as the likelihood of excessive litigation.

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